Suit Guide

Rock the Suit 2010

Music trivia: What's the best season for rock 'n' roll we've seen in ages? Surprise Answer: Right now. Because this spring, there's a slew of electrifying releases from bands at their peaks. (No one-hit wonders or teen idols invited.) Here, they're wearing a range of suits that will look killer on you, tooeven without a guitar slung over your shoulder

On their debut album, MGMT made instant classic rock: ecstatic, danceablesometimes funky, sometimes raveysongs that elbowed their way into the mainstream. The Wesleyan-grads-turned-shirtless-merrypranksters released Oracular Spectacular in 2008, spawning a triumvirate of hits"Time to Pretend," "Electric Feel," and "Kids"that were so catchy you could sing the damn keyboard parts. Two Grammy nominations followed, and the only question was what these two golden boys would touch next. The answer? MGMT aren't your golden boys. "All of the new songs are fucked-up, weird, and psychedelic," Ben Goldwasser says of their new album, Congratulations. Andrew VanWyngarden laughs and adds, "The problem is, everybody's going to stop listening to us."

Well, yes and no. There might not be a song on Congratulations that will become a wedding-DJ staple, like "Time to Pretend," or that fits nicely between old Chili Peppers and Green Day hits on your local FM, like "Kids." But it's still classic rockin the sense that the band is looking back, with bong-blurred vision, to the skuzziest sounds of heroes like T. Rex, the Beatles, and Bowie. "Congratulations is a headphone album," VanWyngarden says, andwith all due respecthe isn't talking about those dinky white earbuds. WILL WELCH